The Following press release concerning a World Wide Town  Meeting
webcast tomorrow evening is being cros posted at the request and on
behalf of the President Of AbleTV.net
blind-l, access-l, uaccess-l, guispeak, blindjob, telecom-l and waiig
are receiving this message.  Feel free to distribute with this in
mind.
Thanks.
TVWORLDWIDE.COM
PRESS RELEASE
Thousands Expected Online as
AbleTV.net
  Webcasts 2000 Worldwide Town Meeting
for the Disabled
TVWorldwide.com to Produce Interactive Video Webcast Featuring Demo of
AbleTV.net's State-of-the-Art Audio Description and Closed Caption
Video
Streaming Technology for the Web
Special Guest Speed Davis from the President's Committee on the
Employment of
Individuals with Disabilities to Respond via Chat and e-mail
Thursday, February 24, 7:30 PM EST at www.abletv.net.
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, February 23, 2000
Contact:   Dave Gardy                                   Jeff Pledger
TV Worldwide.com                       [log in to unmask]
www.tvworldwide.com          www.abletv.net
(703) 406-2031, (703) 786-3067    (301) 890-5944
Reston, Va.   AbleTV.net, the first global TV network for the
disabled, and a
network affiliate of TVWorldwide .com announced today it will offer a
live video
webcast of the 2000 Worldwide Town Hall Meeting for the Disabled and
that it
will begin webcasting this  meeting on a monthly basis starting in
March.  The
2000 meeting will feature discussion on AbleTV.net's applications of
state-of-the-art video streaming Magpie (Media Access Generator) audio
description and closed captioning technology currently archived for
demo
purposes at www.abletv.net. These applications were developed in
cooperation
with WGBH-TV in Boston, a pioneer in the effort to integrate assistive
technology to enhance web accessibility for the disabled.
"We were overwhelmed with viewers when we first webcast this town
meeting last
year," commented Jeff Pledger, president of AbleTV.net who himself
became blind
due to illness 16 years ago. "Individuals with disabilities are a very
close-knit community and the web is a strong enabling factor for us. I
am very
proud of our video streaming applications of the Magpie technology and
pleased
to be working with TVWorldwide.com to make this interactive webcast
event a
reality for the thousands we expect globally. "
Mr. Speed Davis, Public Affairs Specialist with the President's
Committee on
Employment of Individuals with Disabilities, and a paraplegic himself,
will be
the event's special guest. Mr. Davis is also a member of AbleTV.net's
Executive
Advisory Board, a distinguished group of experts in this arena which
includes
representatives from Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT), Digex,
Inc.(Nasdaq:DIGX), WGBH, We
Media, Inc. and  other members from the technology, financial,
manufacturing and
non-profit sectors.
"AbleTV.net's streaming video applications with audio description and
closed
captioning are unique in the streaming media sector," remarked Dave
Gardy,
Chairman and CEO  of TVWorldwide.com and host for the event. "There is
tremendous interest in what they have to offer, as B2B and B2C
streaming sites
enable their on-line communities with such accessibility, including
the capacity
for multi-lingual streaming, in applications ranging from interstitial
advertising to distance learning."


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